About Santa Fe

Wherever your travels take you in the American Southwest consider Corkins Lodge for a private wilderness retreat. We offer everything from fly-fishing and hiking to eco-tourist adventures and artist getaways. Or just simply relaxing. You can swim in the sparkling fresh waters of the Brazos River or enjoy the luxury of the heated pool; hike the forested trails or cook, commune and slumber in your rustic cabin. The experience is yours to make as a family, couple, group or journeying on your own.

Corkins Lodge is located at the base of the 2,500-foot Brazos Cliffs in the scenic Chama Valley of Northern New Mexico. It includes 1,600 acres of private land and more than 2.5 miles of the Brazos River where it pours forth from the Brazos Canyon. All reserved exclusively for Corkins’ guests. This spectacular natural setting rivals the best of America’s National Parks, but without the crowds.

Open year-round, we’re a treasure trove for the off-season traveler. The Fall forests are a dazzling landscape of color, offering a serene yet vibrant atmosphere ideal for contemplation. The Winter - perhaps the most spectacular season of all - finds the cliffs more majestic, the experience more private, and your lodging ever more cozy. Take advantage of snowshoeing or skiing to get you into the muted forest or along the frozen river’s edge, then return to a sauna or a warm fire. In the Spring a waterfall appears at the cliff top, the river roars past fed by the huge melt of snow collected in the canyon, wildflowers carpet the forest floor, and elk pass through on their way back up to higher ground.

We have a 70-year history of providing memory-making and even life-changing experiences. Best of all we're affordable. Some of our guests stay for months; many families have been returning for generations. Corkins offers a unique getaway from crowded National Parks, a busy schedule, tense cities or even just day-to-day life.

The founder of Corkins Lodge, Phil Corkin Sr., was an enterprising, charming Irish rogue, who at 14 years old stowed away on a ship to come across the Atlantic and seek his fortune in the late 1800’s. He apparently trained as a veterinarian in Canada, and worked various jobs around the Southwest until becoming a Ranger with the New Mexico Game and Fish department. He was first and foremost, however, an opportunist and a gambler: he was said to have bet on anything from a horse race to which fly would cross the table first at a saloon.